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Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84, published last year, will be released in a special paperback boxed set May 15. The novel will be broken into three volumes (presumably where it was split for its original three-part release in Japan) that fit together to make one image and are housed in a translucent sleeve. Is it pretty or what?! I’m glad I didn’t buy the hardback; the set is lovely, and the single volumes will be much easier to lug around!

The list price is $29.95, but the set can be purchased for $15.98 on Amazon. The novel will eventually be released in paperback in a single volume.

That’s right, Little, Brown announced today that J.K. Rowling’s next book (and first novel for adults) will be called The Casual Vacancy and be released Sept. 27!

The novel takes place in Pagford, a seemingly idyllic English town complete with cobbled streets and an ancient cathedral. However, Pagford is not what it seems.

Beneath its charming surface, the town is at war — rich against poor, husbands against wives, children against parents. Add in the unexpected death of middle-aged Barry Fairweather, and tensions rise even more as residents battle to fill his seat on the parish council. Rife with duplicity, passion, and unexpected revelations, Little, Brown describes the novel as “blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising.” Continue reading →

Last week, major retailers Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million and Indigo released statements announcing their refusal to stock books published by Amazon in their stores. If you missed the story, you can read my earlier post here.

Today, IndieCommerce, a for-profit subsidiary of the American Booksellers Association, stood in solidarity with the three other retailers and began removing Amazon titles from its online database.

For those who don’t know (which included me 20 minutes ago), IndieCommerce is an e-commerce product available to all ABA member bookstores. It provides access to a database of more than five million titles and enables bookstores to sell books, e-books and merchandise online.

According to an article by Publisher’s Weekly, IndieCommerce director Matt Supko sent an email on Monday to independent bookstores that utilize the service, informing them, “While Amazon is seeking to distribute its print catalog through conventional means, it seems that they are simultaneously pursing a strategy of locking in ebook exclusives which other retailers are not allowed to sell. IndieCommerce believes that this is wrong.” The company has also implemented a new policy that “only publishers’ titles that are made available to retailers for sale in all available formats will be included in the IndieCommerce inventory database.” Continue reading →

I’m a little late on this, but it’s been a crazy week! I want to talk about Amazon. The online retail giant has been allowing authors to self publish their books for years, but just recently began signing its own authors. Since becoming a traditional publisher in October 2011, Amazon’s business practices have made other booksellers increasingly nervous. Three days ago, Barnes & Noble took action against Amazon.

On Feb. 1, Barnes & Noble announced it will no longer stock titles published by Amazon in its bookstores. According to B&N Chief Merchandising Officer Jaime Carey,

“Barnes & Noble has made a decision not to stock Amazon published titles in our store showrooms. Our decision is based on Amazon’s continued push for exclusivity with publishers, agents and the authors they represent. These exclusives have prohibited us from offering certain eBooks to our customers. Their actions have undermined the industry as a whole and have prevented millions of customers from having access to content. It’s clear to us that Amazon has proven they would not be a good publishing partner to Barnes & Noble as they continue to pull content off the market for their own self interest. We don’t get many requests for Amazon titles, but if customers wish to buy Amazon titles from us, we will make them available only online at bn.com.” Continue reading →